Entertainment

Facebook Lobbied to Kill Social Networking Privacy Act

Between April and June of this year, Facebook reportedly spent more than $6,600 lobbying California state officials to kill the Social Networking Privacy Act.

The bill in question aimed to impose civil penalties on social networks displaying home addresses and phone numbers of users under 18 years of age. MarketWatch uncovered the expenses in reports Facebook filed with the California Secretary of State's office.

The California bill was introduced by Sen. Ellen Corbett in February and passed by the California State Senate in April before ultimately meeting with opposition in the California State Assembly.

"Facebook’s California lobbying report included an expense for dinner with the majority leader of the state Assembly, Charles Calderon, at a Sacramento restaurant in June," according to MarketWatch. Calderon, however, voted to move the bill forward.

It doesn't surprise us that Facebook would take an interest in state bills pertaining to Internet privacy, especially ones like the Social Networking Privacy Act, which would have directly affected the social network's operations.

In June, Facebook hired its first lobbyist, William Gonzalez, to represent the company's interests at the state level.

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